New Delhi:
Twenty-four hours after he was brought there, Anna Hazare is still in Tihar Jail. Hectic negotiations have been on for several hours now between Team Anna and the government in a bid to find a compromise solution to the Anna-in-jail crisis.
The talks are centred around how many days the anti-corruption crusader will be allowed to fast for at a public venue - the Gandhian activist has steadfastly refused to agree to a stipulation. Sources say the police have offered to let him fast for 15 days and have said they will assess the law and order situation on a day-to-day-basis. Team Anna says they have been offered five days and that is not acceptable to Mr Hazare and that he will stay in Tihar till the government accepts his demand. Sources say Anna's aides are trying to get the police to agree to a month-long fast.
There has been some breakthrough though - the two sides have agreed that the venue of Mr Hazare's fast will be Ramlila Grounds and not JP Park, where Anna had originally planned to protest. Sources say the police offered the Ramilila grounds as an alternative to JP Park, where Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed, for its size and security. The police, sources say, have also relented on several points and will allow more people to gather at the site of Anna's fast. The use of loudspeakers will also be allowed as per Supreme Court guidelines, the sources said.
While talks are underway, Anna Hazare's team has asked his many supporters outside Tihar to assemble at India Gate, for the next phase of their protest. Hundreds of people are now at the monument in the heart of the national Capital raising slogans. They plan to march towards Jantar Mantar for a candlelight march. There is no member of Team Anna present at India Gate.
The 74-year-old activist is meeting with close aides in jail, where he was brought last evening. He has not eaten since yesterday morning, has only had water. Doctors examined him last night at Tihar Jail. The police delivered Mr Hazare's release warrant last night, permitting him to leave jail. He refused, stating that he wanted a guarantee that he would not be asked to confine either his hunger fast or the number of his supporters to limits prescribed by the government.
The decision to arrest him - taken by the Delhi Police, stress senior ministers - has delivered a huge body blow to a government already battered by financial scandals and the perception that those who're running the country are out of sync with the people. "We are not worried, we will find a way out of this", said the Prime Minister outside his home this afternoon.
But it's obvious that the government is floundering in the midst of this latest crisis which has escalated Mr Hazare to a new level of stardom. "Has the government lost all statecraft to handle a political crisis," said Opposition leader Arun Jaitley in Parliament today in reaction to the Prime Minister's statement on Mr Hazare's baffling arrest. Dr Manmohan Singh was forced to address both Houses about Mr Hazare after a united Opposition said it would not let Parliament function till he shared his government's reasoning for forbidding Mr Hazare from a peaceful protest at JP Park.
(Read: BJP rips apart PM's statement on Anna Hazare)Dr Singh said the Delhi Police had no choice but to arrest Mr Hazare and his closest aides. The police, he said, had permitted Team Anna's demonstration, but the activists rejected six of the 22 conditions deemed necessary for law and order. Mr Jaitley said that the government "can't impose conditions which render a protest redundant." The PM will reply to the debate this evening.
(Read: PM makes statement on Anna Hazare's arrest) |
(Forum: What do you think of PM's statement?)Earlier in the morning, Home Secretary RK Singh said, "Anna Hazare is free to go wherever he wants to go and Delhi Police is talking to him...Delhi Police will take a decision on whether Hazare will be allowed to hold a protest at JP Park." The government could not seem to stress enough that it did not want Anna in jail.
Activists Kiran Bedi and Swami Agnivesh have announced to the supporters outside Tihar Jail that Mr Hazare will come out of the prison "any time now." Swami Agnivesh said, "The government has bowed down. We will have to be prepared to go to JP Park in a peaceful manner."
The atmosphere outside Tihar Jail has been charged all day, all eyes fixed for hours on the gate that Anna Hazare will reportedly emerge from. Supporters have raised slogans in support of Mr Hazare and sung songs and bhajans. They also fell silent for a while in wait for the moment when Anna Hazare would walk out.
(Top surfer comments on Anna Hazare)Many supporters camped outside the jail overnight to show solidarity with Anna's cause; many more have been gathering there since early morning, as they have been at Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi, which was deemed "jail" by Delhi Police yesterday to hold the over 1000 anti-corruption protesters detained in the Capital. Yoga teacher and anti-corruption activist Baba Ramdev too visited Tihar and then the Chattrasal Stadium after he met the President to submit a memorandum against Anna's arrest this morning.
Inside the massive Tihar complex, Anna Hazare slept on the ground on a chaddar (sheet) in one of the administrative buildings. With him was his close aide Arvind Kejriwal. Anna reportedly woke up at about 5 am and held discussions with Mr Kejriwal and other aides. Mr Hazare is fasting in jail and sources say no one from the government has asked him directly to end the fast. In fact, the sources said, all government communication to Anna Hazare, requesting him to leave jail since last evening, has been through the Delhi Police.